Every now and then, while researching other materials being translated, I’ll bump into a curious news article that catches the eye and won’t let it go. For example, this gem from the Philadelphia Inquirer from 10 January 1986: As I was living and working in West Berlin at the time, many kilometers within the bowelsContinueContinue reading “Cold War West Germany: Giving Eastern Bloc Truck Drivers License to Spy”
Tag Archives: Poland
1956: Soviet Embassy in Poland Alerts CPSU to Rising Anti-Soviet Sentiments in Polish Press
1956 was a difficult year for the Soviet Union. February saw Khrushchev’s Secret Speech, and within months, the Warsaw Pact nations were made aware of Stalin’s overall shabby behavior, to put it lightly. Poland was particularly vocal through its media in badmouthing Soviet culture, fashion, and life in particular. On 26 September 1956, Soviet EmbassyContinueContinue reading “1956: Soviet Embassy in Poland Alerts CPSU to Rising Anti-Soviet Sentiments in Polish Press”
Russia Suspends Right of Innocent Passage in Baltic Sea Along Coast of Kaliningrad For Remainder of 2025
On 8 October 2025, the Russian Federation Ministry of Defense published notification of “the suspension of right of innocent passage through the territorial waters of the Russian Federation” in the southeastern Baltic Sea “for foreign military ships and other state vessels operated for non-commercial purposes.” This declaration, which is in effect through 31 December 2025,ContinueContinue reading “Russia Suspends Right of Innocent Passage in Baltic Sea Along Coast of Kaliningrad For Remainder of 2025”
Vice Premier Malenkov Informed of Liberation of Auschwitz, 29 January 1945: “Heinous…”
Two days after the infamous concentration camp in Auschwitz was liberated, General Lieutenant Konstantin Kraynyukov was able to put down into a terse telegram some initial details of the camp itself and what it held. But before launching into descriptions, he felt rightly compelled to sum up his thoughts on what he had seen inContinueContinue reading “Vice Premier Malenkov Informed of Liberation of Auschwitz, 29 January 1945: “Heinous…””
On This Date: 1944 Report from Beria on Security Operations to Destroy Armed Ukrainian Partisan Formations
Special Folder Top Secret Copy No. 1 5 August 1944 According to the NKVD-NKGB of the Ukrainian SSR, recently, in connection with the advance of the Red Army units to the West and the departure of individual units of the NKVD troops stationed in the areas of the Rivne region, the OUN (Organization ofContinueContinue reading “On This Date: 1944 Report from Beria on Security Operations to Destroy Armed Ukrainian Partisan Formations”
November 1944: SMERSH Interrogates Treblinka Death Camp Executioner, a Soviet Red Army Deserter
During the military operations on the frontlines during the Great Patriotic War, the counterintelligence agencies “SMERSH” of the various fronts, armies, corps and divisions, along with carrying out the tasks assigned to them to combat enemy intelligence agents, simultaneously conducted investigations of Hitler’s atrocities, and carried out an active search for Nazi war criminals andContinueContinue reading “November 1944: SMERSH Interrogates Treblinka Death Camp Executioner, a Soviet Red Army Deserter”
Declassified Interrogation of Sachsenhausen Concentration Camp Commander: Part 3
We continue our translation of the Russian-language record of the December 1946 interrogation of SS Standartenführer Anton Kaindl who, at the time of his arrest in May 1945, was the commandant of the infamous Sachsenhausen concentration camp. Due to its length, the translation is being published bit by bit throughout the week. In Part One Kaindl described his early yearsContinueContinue reading “Declassified Interrogation of Sachsenhausen Concentration Camp Commander: Part 3”
Declassified Interrogation of Sachsenhausen Concentration Camp Commander: Part 1
The Russian Federation FSB website recently declassified and published the Russian-language December 1946 interrogation of SS Standartenführer Anton Kaindl who, at the time of his arrest in May 1945, was the commandant of the infamous Sachsenhausen concentration camp just north of Berlin. The camp was liberated just over 80 years ago, on 22 April 1945,ContinueContinue reading “Declassified Interrogation of Sachsenhausen Concentration Camp Commander: Part 1”
Did ‘Cambridge Five’ Espionage Contribute to Poland Succumbing to Soviet Influence after World War II?
Recently declassified documents published to the Russian FSB website are claimed to contain information provided by the so-called ‘Cambridge Five’ – the notorious spy ring that provided information to the Soviet Union from the 1930s to the early 1950s. The documents deal with Poland’s efforts to prepare for a post-war world in which that countryContinueContinue reading “Did ‘Cambridge Five’ Espionage Contribute to Poland Succumbing to Soviet Influence after World War II?”
DETI: Part 2 of Interrogation of Red Army Lieutenant Training Soviet Children for the Germans in WW2
Those who have been following the site for the past month know that we have been publishing declassified documents that were published on the Russian FSB (Federal Security Service) website on 1 June 2024, the International Day for the Protection of Children. This is Part Two of the first in a series of three separateContinueContinue reading “DETI: Part 2 of Interrogation of Red Army Lieutenant Training Soviet Children for the Germans in WW2”
Translating History 